


The Other Man

by Heronfem



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 10:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6606649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heronfem/pseuds/Heronfem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the Hissing Wastes, Dorian reflects on being "the other man" in the past, and his future with Bull.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Other Man

The world is sand, heat, and sun, and Dorian breathes air that scorches his lungs. The Western Approach is giving way to the Hissing Wastes, and night is not yet upon them. That is the only way to survive in the Wastes, they have been told, but they have to make it to the camp before they can rest. The Abyss and its sulfurous waves 

Cole and Varric are ahead, with Meershaum loping far before them in great bounding strides. She is tall, and lean, and her skin has gone deep, rich grey in the sun. Her horns, the massive backswept double pair, are capped with gleaming silverite, and she shines like a beacon. She, like Bull beside him, goes bare chested in the heat, wearing only tall boots and loose, billowing pants. She and the Bull match, if only in fashion. Dorian despairs of them both.

Meershaum lets out a soft call, and Cole disappears and reappears at her side, looking with her out over the desert. Meershaum seems made for this, and Dorian reflects that she is, after all, a child of the borderlands with the Anderfels. The desert is home, familiar in its brutal heat. She, like him, is constantly freezing in Skyhold.

“Copper for your thoughts?”

“They're worth gold at least,” Dorian says mildly, taking Bull's offered hand. “I was just thinking about how she loves this place.”

“I asked her what she was going to do after this was done,” Bull says, squeezing his hand. “She said she was going to take over the Still Ruins and make them her home.”

Dorian snorts. “Only she would want to live in the remains of a torture chamber.” Meershaum waves, and Dorian sighs. “I hope she's found camp.”

Meershaum has found camp, and the second the tents are set up Dorian buries himself in one. Bull joins him a moment later, and closes the flap so Dorian can press glyphs of cold on the tent. They'll fade in time, but for now the intense heat will fade, and he can stand to be curled against Bull's side as they rest. Bull settles, and Dorian pillows himself on Bull's arm, kissing his shoulder. He sleeps on Bull's bad side, always, and they don't talk about Dorian's need to know that if an attacker comes, he'll be able to see it for both of them. Bull's arm wraps and settles at his waist, and Dorian makes a soft, quiet crooning sound before nuzzling against him and throwing an arm over his chest.

This is their relationship. Tents and heat and rooms with no roof and icy morning winds. They have always slept together, but they've only recently started _sleeping_ together, and Bull welcomes him with open arms every time Dorian finds himself standing outside his door.

Strangely, he thinks of Tevinter. Monsoon heat as he left in the early mornings, always a secondary piece of a romantic puzzle, and the soft touch of pampered hands under silk sheets completes the picture. The men he tumbled into bed with married, making him little more than a mistress to be set aside when they grew tired of him. He thinks of Rilienus, and Rilienus' wife, who knew and laughed and hugged him, thought him beautiful and intelligent. He thinks of how he planned to ask Rilienus if he might stay, become a small part of their small family, and thinks of Cole.

“ _He would have said yes._ ”

He could have had a wonderful family.

But that is not who he is. Instead he ran, after- after that time, and Rilienus had to be put aside. And here he is, in bed with yet another man who loves others freely. He certainly will damage the Bull's reputation, if he's known about. The Iron Bull, fucking the Tevinter mage. Clearly a blood thrall, oh, yes.

“I don't mind if you sleep with other people,” he says, because it's an obligation. Better for Bull to maintain his happiness while Dorian sits to the side, no matter how much he wants to be the sole person of interest in someone's life. For once, he just wants to not be the other man. But Meershaum has eyes, and if given a choice between her and Dorian, Bull will surely choose her, or she will choose him. Meershaum is somewhat like Bull, free in her love, and Dorian knows that she wants a family like he could have had with Rilienus.

Bull is quiet for a time, then says softly, “You know, you say that, but the way you're holding me says otherwise.”

“Nonsense,” Dorian says weakly, forcing his fingers to loosen from where they're clutching Bull.

“Yeah, no. I appreciate the attempt, but I'm not blind, and I like the idea of you just being mine and just being yours.”

Dorian stares blankly over the expanse of grey chest to the tent wall. “What?”

“Come on, Dorian, we both know this is a little more serious than us just fucking around,” Bull says, stroking his side. “We're a thing. Dunno what kind of thing, but we're a thing now. And I want that. I don't want to hide this. Shit, I've never _done_ this before, I want to shout it from the fucking rooftops that we are, in fact, an _item_.”

Dorian can't help smiling. “Only you could make the word “item” sound salacious.” He kisses the skin closest, tension draining from his shoulders. “Are you certain you're all right with just the two of us?”

Bull laughs, squeezing his side again. “We almost burned down the room the last time we fucked, Dorian. You keep me more than satisfied, and I mean that all the ways. Emotionally, physically, sexually, sensually, you've got me, okay?”

Dorian feels his chest loosen, and relaxes into him. “Well then.” He pauses. “What if we had a threesome?”

Bull actually splutters before laughing. “Where's that come from?”

“Just curious. It might be interesting, I've never had one before.” Dorian sits up and straddles him, basking in the fond look on his face and the breadth of the hands that go to his hips. “It could be fun. I mean, I've attended orgies. I enjoyed them, even if I didn't do much participating.”

“So you want to have a threesome?”

Dorian hummed, smiling as he leaned down to kiss him. “No. But I certainly like talking about what would happen if we _did_.”

Bull's smile was so sweet Dorian just had to kiss him again. The knot in his chest was entirely gone, eased away.

“Bull?”

“Yes?”

“I love you."

Bull reached up, cupping his face in one hand, and smiled.

"I love you too."


End file.
